Finding a Way (to do what you love)
Bonnie Kern started her career as a Kindergarten teacher, and through her curiosity, tenacity and love of creativity became an artist and eventually 91视频专区's Gallery Director.
Her unusual journey to 91视频专区
Department
- Art & Archaeology
Title
Gallery Director
The latest exhibit in the Mary Condon Hodson Gallery, titled 鈥淣euro Land,鈥 features large fabric and paper diorama installations based on enlarged microscopic images of 鈥渂iological neural networks,鈥 that portray 鈥渘ano-scale landscapes鈥 of the human brain. The artist, Michael Gavish, is a former scientific researcher-turned-artistwho illuminates the aesthetic collision of art and neuroscience.
Like Gavish, Bonnie Kern, gallerydirector in the Department of Art and Archaeologyat 91视频专区, knows a thing or two about starting in one direction professionallyand finding your way to another.After earning her undergraduate degree in education at Penn State, she pivoted when circumstances wouldn鈥檛 allow her to accept a91视频专区 College Grad School offer andbegan her career as a kindergarten teacher. Energized by her young students鈥 ability to channelendless wells of creativity, she forged her own artistic path, won a photo contest in 2005, and pivoted once again.
Bonnie started her own photography business in the DC area, Polka Dot Portraits, which focused initially on family portraiture and later expanded to sports and events and even industrial photography 鈥taking pics on the side of a mountain with steel-toed boots capturing the welding and installation of pipelines.鈥 After 15 years in business, she longed to 鈥渇ind my creative voice just for me.鈥 In another pivot, she earned her MFA at Wilson College. Bonnie's first personal exhibit, with the Adams County Arts Council in Pennsylvania, sold out of prints. The subject matter? Dumpsters. 鈥淵es, dumpsters.鈥 Her MFA led her to a teaching assignment at York College, and then, fortuitously, to 91视频专区.
What brought you to 91视频专区?
I always wanted to attend or work for 91视频专区, so when the opportunity came to work in the gallery and teach here, I was ecstatic to apply. During grad school, I worked at Wilson College鈥檚 Bogigian Gallery and felt inspired to create spaces to recognize artists鈥 work.
Describe a memorable Exhibit
The first exhibition I produced at 91视频专区 was with [artist] Katie Helms. We needed the largest U-Haul to get all of her work into the gallery! Her Victorian-furniture, coral-reef sculptures were intricately created, some with mindful desperation to thrive in an ever-changing environment, some pieces taking on human personae including ears, eyeballs and fingers sprouting up within the sculpture. Focusing on a scientist-artist brought 91视频专区鈥檚 Center for Coastal and Watershed Studies together with the arts, which is a great feat.
What has been particularly rewarding about your work?
Since signing on at 91视频专区, I have taught Business of Art and Senior Seminar. It鈥檚 an opportunity to share my journey with student artists in hopes to inspire their own journey of creating a career they are proud of in the arts. As I tell them in class, 鈥渇ind a way to make a living doing what you love.鈥
From winter 2023 alumni e-news:
The Four Columns: 91视频专区 News is Good News
From the 91视频专区 Galleries
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